Panda Lilies and Proposals
by Kanna37
Summary: Just what the title says - my take on the kataang proposal. Beware high fluff content.


**Panda Lillies and Proposals**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

~A~

Katara closed her eyes and inhaled deeply with a contented smile. She and Aang were riding atop Appa and heading the Avatar only knew where, since he'd smilingly refused to tell her where they were going when she'd asked.

Pushing off thoughts of their destination, since she almost didn't even care as happy as she was to be out of the Fire Nation's insane summer heat and away from all the post-war politicking that was still going on even three and a half years later, she just enjoyed the cool air and the peace to be had whenever she was with Aang. She knelt down and laid her head on her arms atop the front of Appa's saddle to watch her boyfriend as he lay on the back of the bison's head, his arms under his head and one leg crossed over the other knee with an odd look on his face. He was staring up into the sky as though deeply contemplating something.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, studying him intently.

His eyes flickered towards her and then back up into the sky. "Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Because I know you. You're my best friend besides being my boyfriend, and we've been together more than long enough for me to see when something's... concerning you – even when you try to hide it."

"A lot of things concern me, Katara. That doesn't mean something's wrong."

"Stop playing word games with me, Aang. If you don't want to talk about it right now, just say so. I won't be angry."

He cracked a reluctant smile at that. "Oh, no, of course not. How could I _possibly_ think you'd be upset if I refused to tell you something? That's not you at all."

She just continued to look at him expectantly, not rising to the bait.

"Alright, fine," he sighed. "I've got something on my mind, but I'm not quite ready to talk about it. Give me a couple days and I promise you'll know what I'm thinking about, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Aang blinked. "That was... easy."

A shrug lifted her shoulders a little. "I'm too happy to be away from annoying politicians and aggravating fangirls to worry about too much else right now."

"Yeah," he admitted, looking at her glowing skin, soft, gorgeous hair, and beautiful eyes. "I hate being crowded by all the fanboys, too."

It took her a moment to realize what he'd just said, and then she burst into startled laughter and rolled her eyes as he grinned cheekily at her. "You're lucky we're flying right now and I don't have anything to throw at you," she threatened cheerfully. "I don't have _fanboys_. You're the one with the fans... and all those clingy, screechy girls get very, very aggravating."

"Riiiight," he drawled. "So I suppose I'm just imagining the long line of guys that always want to cut in when we're at balls or parties and steal you away from me all the time."

Katara blushed. "Oh, hush," she shot back a little weakly, and Aang grinned, knowing he'd won that round. "At least I don't have a club."

"Sure you do. I'm even a member. Did you want to see my membership card?"

She gaped at him. "Stop teasing like that!"

"I'm not. And it's only fitting anyway, since I'm your number one fan _and _your boyfriend."

Almost shrieking with laughter at that, she waved a hand at his ingenious grin and his, "What? What'd I say?"

"You're telling me you're a _fanboy_?" she gasped, more giggles falling from her lips as he stopped for a moment, realizing what he'd just said. "Oh, spirits, Aang – that's just too funny!"

Unable to think of a suitable rebuttal, the young avatar just decided to keep his mouth shut before he gave himself completely away.

Because the truth was, he _was_ a Katara fanboy. He couldn't resist her no matter what she did...

Even when she laughed at him.

Mostly that was because he loved making her laugh and didn't really care if it was at his expense... though this one was just a little embarrassing, he had to admit.

Still, she was so beautiful when she laughed...

He sighed happily, totally smitten as she continued to giggle.

~A~

Two days of travel later Aang looked down at the slowly approaching ground with nervous excitement. They were arriving, and he could barely hold himself still as his moment of truth drew closer and closer. When Katara looked over Appa's side as she noticed that they were descending and realized where they were, she looked at him with a curious frown.

_Okay, now I want to know what's going on. Why did he bring us back to Aunt Wu's village?_

"Aang?" she called questioningly, and her boyfriend looked up at her from his spot guiding the bison to the earth below.

"Yeah?"

She frowned at his distracted tone. "Why are we here?"

He shot her a nervous smile and his cheeks reddened. "You'll see soon, Katara, don't worry."

Eyes narrowing dubiously, she looked from him to the village as they landed with a thump and a loud groan from Appa, and then back again. "Hm," was all she said as the villagers saw the sky bison and converged on them with happy greetings. Even though they hadn't been back here since they'd been on their way to the north pole, everyone on earth by now knew just what seeing the last sky bison on the planet meant, and like every other place they wanted to greet and thank the avatar.

Katara watched with a wistful smile as they all converged on them, and then the young monk airbended himself to the ground and held out his hand to help her slide down Appa's side. Once she was standing on her own two feet he turned to greet the happy villagers with a ready smile, although he couldn't help but wish all the attention would disappear at this point in time.

Unfortunately he could tell that wasn't going to happen and so he tugged his girlfriend by the hand, refusing to be separated from her as they were swept towards the village by a sea of chattering people.

Nearly three hours later he finally managed to get away from everyone and headed out the gate that led up to the volcano that he'd saved the village from almost four years ago. Now that he was an earthbender and a firebender, he could tell for himself that the mountain was once again quiet, dormant and sleeping deeply enough that it probably wouldn't erupt again for many, many years – unless something else triggered it, of course.

He glanced behind to see his girl following him with an exasperated look on her face, and he shook his head and laughed, tugging her hand enthusiastically. "C'mon, Katara! It's a beautiful day and I want to go up the mountain with you!"

She smiled, rolling her eyes wryly. "Fine," she sighed. She couldn't resist him when he was like this, and he knew it. "But you'd better get me out of there if it erupts."

"Don't worry, it won't. It's sleeping very deeply right now," he replied before slowing to walk at a more sedate pace, still nervous though he was doing his level best to hide that fact.

He'd never forgotten this village, or the legend of the panda lily. Or Aunt Wu, for that matter. When he'd heard her tell Katara that she would one day marry 'a very powerful bender' he'd almost launched himself into the heavens with excitement – only to be so disappointed when the fortuneteller hadn't seen love in _his_ fortune. Of course, that didn't mean that there wasn't, just that she hadn't seen that particular situation in her reading of the bones. Still, she _had_ told him that he had to take control of his own destiny, and his reason for being here with the only woman he'd ever be able to love was his attempt to do just that.

Once he'd turned sixteen and was an adult by all standards he'd set about creating Katara a betrothal necklace, sometimes staying up all hours of the night to get it done, and once it was he'd turned his mind to trying to decide how and where he wanted to ask her. It hadn't taken much thought for him to decide on this place, because it was here that he'd first tried to really tell her that he had feelings for her. That hadn't worked out too well, since she hadn't even heard him, but... it was still a significant place for them.

He knew his girl saw it that way, too, because she'd once shared with him the fact that even though it hadn't occurred to her who Aunt Wu had been speaking of when she'd originally been given the fortune, something Sokka had said during the eruption itself had brought the possibility to mind and left it simmering slowly underneath everything else that was going on in their lives.

They'd been together as a couple for just over two and a half years now, and they'd been the best years of his young life despite all the other stress in their lives what with trying to straighten the world back out again after the Hundred-Year War. He knew he always wanted to be with her and _had_ known since he was twelve, but now he was finally of age to do something about that desire...

And so here they were.

He wasn't truly afraid she'd say no, just worried about messing it up – he knew from talking to both Suki and Mai that a proposal was a very important thing in a girl's life, something they would remember forever, and he wanted it to be perfect for her because she deserved everything in her life to be perfect. He'd spend the rest of his life trying to make hers that way, too, because he loved her more than he knew he could ever love anyone else and he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. _Well_, he thought a little sheepishly, _besides to be the one __making__ her happy, that is._

Finally coming to the nearly vertical walls of the caldera after a couple hours walk Aang whirled his glider around and popped it open with a small smile at the beautiful waterbender at his side. "Would the lady like a ride?" he asked gallantly with a small bow, and Katara giggled a little, pressing a hand to her mouth to block the besotted smile she could feel wanting to form on her face.

"The lady would very much appreciate a ride," she replied in a lightly flirtatious voice after getting her expression under control. "I don't think I'm up for such a steep climb today, my lord Avatar."

His smile widened to a grin and he wrapped one arm around her and then launched them into the air, slowly circling upwards with minimal effort by riding the thermals rising from the ground in the heat of the summer sun. Once they were high enough up that he could see the rim of the caldera he began searching, hoping that the panda lilies had been able to grow again after being destroyed by the eruption.

Heart thumping loudly in his chest when he finally spotted some of the delicately black-edged white flowers he began to descend, bending a swirl of air around them to take them down and settle them gently back to earth. Once they were on their feet again he let her go and closed his glider with an absent twirl and snap of his wrist.

"Oh, Aang... look! Panda lilies! They're so beautiful!"

"Yeah, they are," he said softly, going up to the edge of the rim and crouching down to gently pick the most perfect blossom he could see in the small patch. "You know what they mean?" he asked, a quick glance from soft gray eyes taking in her gentle smile.

"Yes," she said, dropping her gaze and tucking a strand of hair back over her shoulder as the wind ran playful fingers through it – rather like Aang himself loved to do. _Air and airbender - he's so much like his native element, _she thought fondly.

"Then I don't have to tell you the legend," he began, standing up and coming back over to her. He looked down at the flower in his hand and then back up at the young woman before him who was watching him with tears in her eyes. "I want you to have my panda lily, Katara," he said, shyly offering it to her.

"Oh, Aang," she whispered, totally touched as she reached out to accept the gift of his heart – because that's what this really was. "Are you sure... you really want to give it to me?"

"Absolutely," he said immediately, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I actually... well-" his blush deepened and spread, "-picked one when we were here the first time – I wanted to give it to you even then. But... things didn't quite work out that way, what with finding the volcano ready to erupt and destroy the village and all."

Now beyond touched, Katara let out a small sob and threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck, careful not to damage the flower he'd given her. "You are perfect, you know that?" she sniffled. "Don't ever let anything change you, because it would be an unbearable loss for the entire world if you did – but especially for me."

Aang grinned again, happy because he'd made her happy, at least so far. He pulled away from her a bit and motioned for her to look back down the mountain and towards the horizon. It was a gorgeous view, and he grasped her hand in his to tug her closer to the edge.

"It's almost like I can see the whole world from here," she said with awe as her eyes traveled slowly over the vision before her.

"I know. And that's what I wanted you to see." Fumbling a little as he went to retrieve the necklace in his pocket with his free hand, he clenched it in his palm and closed his fist over the piece of jewelry. He looked down for a second, gathering his courage before looking back up and letting go her hand only to use it to turn her face gently back to meet his suddenly vulnerable and yet hopeful eyes. When she was completely lost in his gaze he lifted the hand holding the necklace and opened his palm, letting it dangle from his fingers. As her gaze went to it and then moved slowly back up to him with a wide-eyed, almost disbelieving expression, he said, "Marry me, Katara, please? I want to spend the rest of my life giving you the world, because I love you and you deserve the world... and more."

The piece of jewelry he was offering her as a visible symbol of his love and devotion was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. A pale blue stone edged in silver with the air and water symbols also etched in that precious metal, the main design of the piece was a tiny panda lily, in full color. The ribbon was the same pale blue of the stone itself, with silvery threads scattered throughout and glinting in the light. How he'd even made such a thing she had no idea, but it was everything she could have hoped for and more... though she'd have married Aang even if he'd never made her a necklace at all.

Completely unable in that moment to dig up any semblance of her voice as tears streamed down her cheeks, she answered him in the only way she could, lifting on her toes to press the hand not holding the living flower he'd given her to his cheek and her lips to his, urgently offering him everything that she was in that moment. Both of their hearts soared as he accepted that offer and promised her himself in the same manner, no words even needed between two souls that were so entwined and connected and willingly bound to each other.

When she finally pulled away so as to catch her breath, her heart in her eyes, Aang stepped back and waited for her to turn around so he could fasten the necklace around her slender throat. She'd been forced to stop wearing her mother's necklace almost a year ago after a rather heated encounter with some Fire Nation rebels had damaged the ribbon, and now it was mounted in a delicate frame that he had purchased for her. It had been so strange seeing her without it all the time though, reminding him of the time she'd lost it during their early adventures. Back then he'd made her a simple but pretty little replacement because that was all he could do, though he'd been thrilled when he'd been able to get her mother's choker back from Zuko for her.

This time, seeing her without the familiar blue necklace after it had been damaged those months ago had solidified his desire to make her what he couldn't back then due to their ages – a betrothal necklace of her own.

He pressed a tender kiss to the back of her neck just above where it sat after he slid the clasp closed and whispered, "I love you, Katara," in her ear, smiling just a little when she shivered and turned around to meet his emotional gaze.

It was all there, clear to anyone that could see – his entire heart and soul was in those glowing silver eyes.

And it was all for her. This beautiful boy, the one with the purest and most loving soul she'd ever known, loved _her_ with all of who and what he was... and she returned every bit of that adoration and devotion.

More tears slid down her cheeks as her own heart just overflowed with the deepest, most abiding affection for him. "You _are_ my world, Aang," she whispered in return. "Don't you know that by now? I don't need or want anything else but you, so don't worry about the rest of the world. I couldn't ask for any better joy than to be able to be with you forever, here _and_ when we finally cross over to the spirit world. Even if I were to die first I would wait forever for you to join me, and nothing the spirits could say would stop me. I'd find a way to be by your side again no matter what."

Aang could feel his own eyes filling with tears of the purest love for the young woman in his arms, because he had no doubts whatsoever that if anyone could defy the spirits to return to his side upon his death it would be her. Her soul was unbendable, and he'd never known anyone with the sheer strength of will and determination that she had. He didn't think even the spirits could force her to give up when she'd set her mind on something.

It was a good thing they wouldn't be bothered with keeping them apart on the other side. When the next avatar took over after his death and he became his or her spirit guide it wouldn't really be all that different than what it was like for him here as the current avatar, except he'd be called away to 'work' a lot less than he would be in his time in the mortal world. And that just meant that they'd have all the time in the spirit world to be together... which was actually his definition of paradise.

"And if I die before you, the first thing you'll see when you get to the other side will be me, avatar promise. Because I honestly don't think my soul would survive if we were to be separated forever. Without you, I'd fade away into nothing, because you're the better part of who I am," the young airbender replied almost breathlessly, no longer surprised that she could have that effect on him, who could control the flow of air to his entire body with barely a thought.

"Okay." Just like that Katara accepted his words, trusting him implicitly just like she always had and always would.

Bright laughter filled with an indescribably poignant joy burst from his throat as he pressed his fingers gently to the beautiful piece of jewelry adorning her neck. "It looks so beautiful on you."

"It would make anyone look beautiful, Aang, because you made it." She smiled up at him, drawing the lily in her hand to her nose to take in its delicate scent. "You're very talented – I've never seen a betrothal necklace as beautiful."

A wind sprite darted up around them, making the panda lilies dance as Aang swept her up and whirled her around with dizzy joy, a beaming smile lighting his face almost brighter than the sun to Katara's love-dazed eyes. She still couldn't believe that _she _was what made this precious young man so ecstatically happy, but she wasn't going to question the gift. No, she'd spend the rest of her life cherishing him, loving him and protecting him from as much of the evils in the world as she possibly could.

_I love you, Katara. I always have, you know._

_I love you too, Aang. I always will, I promise._

_**fin**_


End file.
